Message from Fatma

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This is Fatma Ghossain. She has been my friend for many years now. Fatma works in the NCCR as the project manager. Also she is the mother of six beautiful children, five girls, called Fida, Nida, Wala, Doua, Nour and a boy, Wassim. She is from a big Bedouin familie who had to flee from Beer Sheva in 1948. Fatma cooks the best ‘feteh’ on friday, chicken on rice and flat bread, with almonds and ‘filfil’, peppers. I tried to make it like she does, but hers is better.

This is Fatma at a meeting. She does not always look so serious and does not always wear a tie, she borrowed it from her husband.

Fatma with a tie

And this is Fatma and me and ‘Abu Amar’, some years ago when president Arafat was still living in Gaza, and we had to visit him to ask him for a permission.

Fatma and Abu Amar

This is at Fatma’s home on friday, eating her famous chicken.

Fatma at home

This is Wassim, her son, when he was teased by his sister and is comforted by Huweida, one of Fatma’s sisters.

Wassim and Huweida

And this is one of the nephews, who is making the ‘shisha’, the waterpipe ready for me. Everybody is wearing all their clothes, coats and sweaters and hats because it is january and very cold. Palestinian homes are not isolated and do not have heaters except for the coals so I love to smoke shisha in winter to make me feel warm.

Shisha

It is very easy to make a party in Gaza. You put on the tv, find a music station, someone starts dancing and everybody claps their hands and sings. This is one of Fatma’s sisters and het oldest daughter Fida. All of them are great dancers.

A party

If you have any questions for her, you can ask in English, or send them to me for translation.

And this is what she wrote to us:

Dear Anja;

Thank you very much for your invitation to share into your weblog. I am sure that you have enough information about me and my family, so go on and use whatever you find it fitting the story. In addition I have a subject that I want to talk about in the weblog if you permit it. I want you to see it and use it if you want to with your own wards. This subject is about the suffering of the Palestinian women.

As the Palestinian women are different than other women in the world as upon the economical, health and social difficulties that the Palestinian families are suffering due to the Israeli siege and the closure that prevents men from going to their work and afford the money that their families need. As a result women are carrying a heavy burden starting in working at home and then go out to look for an income resource to help her husband in covering the needs of the family. Palestinian women are the perfect supporters of their husbands in all situations, in addition to handling her own job of looking after the house and the children. This as a result causes a very big psychological burden on the women due to the stress that their husbands are living through due to the lack of working opportunities. Also women live through the same fear and pressure that every single Palestinian goes through, however, they should be stronger, which reflects on her personality and adds to her psychological stress more than others. We Palestinian women are mothers like other mothers in the world, we cry when we see the children blood down the streets, like any other mother in the world. We cried when we saw the American psychic attacking the children in the school , and the bloodshed in the Russian school. No mother in the world would accept it and it is still in our minds as mothers. I would love to add that regardless the stress and hardness of the occupation, we feel the pain inside us when we see any explosion in Israel and cry for the injured people and ask God to help them. Finally, I would like to say that we as Palestinian women wish peace and safety for our children and love to see them back from school happy and secure. This is also our wish for all the children all over the world. We also love to address all peace lovers in the world to help us achieving just peace that guarantees the safety and justice to our children and all children in the world.

Yours

Fatma

13 gedachten over “Message from Fatma”

  3. Hy fatme, do you remember me? Trees. Once we were dancing during that party in Gaza, it seems centuries ago. That was big fun. Nice to see you back here on Anja’s weblog.
    I hope to hear more from you and your family.
    Hope you are fine, and that we will meet in more peacefull times. a big hug

  4. Well, this is nice Anja that one of the Palestinian women who we know very well is introduced to the world on your weblog. This is a great opportunity for the world to know how Palestinian women think and act. It is great, really great to have a Palestinian mother, , sister and wife. I love the saying that says, behind every great man there is a woman. We Palestinian men know how indescribable to be sure of the presence of our sisters, mothers and wives behind and beside us.

  5. Finally, it is the right of the Palestinian people to have their own country and could decide for themselves. Palestine is a free country and the Palestinian people are free. This my dream, and I guess that no one could stop my dreams. Palestine is a country that is built on peace, this is my dream. Palestine is free, and the Palestinian people are like all other nations in the world (free, free, free), this is my dream. Could I dream in this world that is full with oppositions to my dreams. Is it possible that I could find the time at night to dream. Would this night mare that is called occupation become a nice dream. My grandfather dreamed for more than 50 years and many other grandfathers did. I have been dreaming since 30 years and still am. My grandfather passed away one year ago, I am still a life and I will continuo to dream. I will catch every single moment that is silent at night and dream. I will defeat the craziness of war and dream for the best of it. At least I could see freedom wearing a white dress under the sun rather than seeing it daily very dark and fading a way with the horizon. I will continuo dreaming to the end of it (my life I mean) and I will write in my well that Mohammed and Mahmoud (my children) shall continuo dreaming. Peace brings the freedom, peace brings the freedom, peace brings the freedom. This is the title of the next lesson for my children.

  10. Yes Joes;

    I giuss you are right, I like the way of being on the weblog, it is a new manfistation of our way of thinking. See you

  12. Dear Fatma, I think what Roderick is saying, but he does not explain, is that what you are saying is propaganda, meaning lies. I know you, I know the situation, and I know that that is not true. But there are still people in the Netherlands who do not know the situation or do not want to know. Fortunately most people on this weblog understand or start to understand or at least they have questions instead of judgements. So you can continue telling us about your life and what you think. Many people tell me they like it that they can almost be in direct contact with somebody real from Palestine on this weblog.
    All my best to you, Fatma, and to my friends overthere in Gaza.

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